Ensuring learning is protected during a time of ‘economic uncertainty’

1. Ensuring learning is protected during a time of ‘economic uncertainty’ Linda McBride L&D Facilitator – Representing and Influencing RCNI

2. Changes that may inhibit learning and development Strategies suggested in the governments white paper include: • The abolition of Primary Care Trusts and Strategic Health Authorities • All NHS Trusts to become Foundation Trusts with extended freedoms and autonomy • Creation of the Independent NHS Commissioning Board • Creation of a GP commissioning consortia • Efficiency savings of £20billion

3. Chaos and cuts - challenges The employer • Efficiency savings – will training budgets need to be cut? • Resources – can staff be released for training and at what cost? • Changing needs – what does the workforce look like now?! The individual • Motivation – job security, other priorities • Guilt – can’t leave my team when we are under so much pressure

4. Thinking differently The employer • Efficiency savings – Training budgets have to be seen as value for money. • Resources – Training needs to be flexible • Changing needs – Training has to enable the organisation to develop under new circumstances The Individual • Motivation – Be as employable as you can be. Keep up your 35 hours of CPD for registration • Guilt – Align your development needs with the team and the organisation and be flexible

5. How the RCN and LRs can protect learning Engaging with employers • Ensuring LRs have a place on staff side committees / training forums • Getting involved in training needs analysis • Developing learning agreements Supporting learners • Support the appraisal process with PDP guidance (ensuring needs are aligned with the organisation) • Ensure members are skilled up to manage change

6. Learning agreements • Unions in recognised workplaces have a statutory right to negotiate on pay and conditions. There is as yet however no statutory right for unions in recognised workplaces to negotiate on training issues for their members. • Such negotiations over training are voluntary and happen in less than 10 per cent of recognised workplaces. The TUC has argued strongly that training should be a core bargaining issue under the statutory union recognition scheme.

7. The Union Learning Fund recently published an evaluation assessing the impact of the ULF. The report, produced in collaboration with Leeds University stated that: ‘Learning agreements appear to matter in terms of the terrain of organisation learning practices’ and ‘learning agreements appear to be contributing to higher levels of training and spend despite the recessionary conditions’.

8. A learning agreement can contain.. • a commitment from both parties to learning • the establishment of a joint learning committee comprised of equal numbers of union and employer representatives • recognition and support for LRs • the policy and procedure for requesting time off for training including details of paid time off to learn as well as employer contribution to course fees • details of how and when learning needs surveys will be undertaken and staff and union involvement • a commitment to regular promotional activities regarding learning

9. RCN Strategic plan • Maximise opportunities for joint working across functions • Ensure education and development is accessible to all members • Implement ways of working that foster professional ways of working with government, employers and policy makers Frontine First • Developing agreements that will respect the challenges employers will be facing and demonstrate flexible, fair and innovative solutions. • Demonstrate that unions can be innovators and enablers in time of change

10. Further reading • Health and Social Care Bill 2011 http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Legislation/Actsandbills/HealthandSocialCareBill2011/index.htm • Unison model agreement for the NHS (2005) http://www.unison.org.uk/acrobat/B2889.pdf • http://www.unionlearn.org.uk/agreements/index.cfm • PCS model agreement http://www.pcs.org.uk/en/resources/learning_with_pcs/union_learning_reps/model_learning_agreement.cfm • Stuart et al. (2010) Evaluation of the Union Learning Fund and Unionlearn http://www.unionlearn.org.uk/publications/index.cfm?frmPubID=184